On March 6, 2011, a significant number of small white circular shaped mesh disks, approximately two inches in diameter, were released into the Merrimack River from the Hooksett wastewater treatment facility following heavy rainstorms. The town of Hooksett has acknowledged that the disks were released from its wastewater treatment plant. Current estimates are that several million of the disks were released to the Merrimack River and have washed up on Massachusetts and New Hampshire coastal areas and beaches.